Taking Flight
by superalicat
Summary: Since school's starting soon for most of us, I thought I'd post this fic about Mugi's decision to go to Sakura High against her parents' wishes. Even though she was so dead-set on it at first, her doubts and worries start to come back as the start of school approaches. Will she be able to bring back her earlier determination before she has to make her final decision?


Title: Taking flight

Characters: Mugi

A light, gentle breeze swept the pink cherry blossom petals across the pavement just as a car pulled up to it. The blossoms were just starting to bloom and only a few petals had fallen from the trees.

Inside the car, a thick-eyebrowed blonde twisted her hands in her lap and looked out the window. She didn't want to let her real feelings show, in case people started worrying about her, but the nerves were coming through loud and clear. Tsumugi Kotobuki was never one to bother people by concerning them with her problems. She remembered all of the maids at home asking if she was okay over and over again, so many times that the question didn't seem to count as a real one anymore. She had been so confident at first, in her decision, but now she was having second thoughts.

Her family had been looking at a completely different high school for her to spend the remainder of her school days, a small, private one where she'd be as isolated as she was at home. That wasn't what one expected when one heard about school. But Mugi had been growing tired of not getting to make her own decisions. And so, without really knowing how, she'd found the charming-and totally public-Sakuragaoka Girls' High School. She'd been so excited about it at first, gushing excitedly about it to her closest friend Sumire. The other girl was only twelve years old, but she understood full well what was going on. Mugi was going through a rebellious phase, and who knew how long it would last. The maids murmured to one another about this daily since Mugi had marched into her father's study and announced that Sakura High was the one for her.

Her cheeks had been flushed with the excitement that everything was unfurling in front of her like on big banner on a windy day. Her blue eyes, bright with the promise of a seemingly normal life, just like she'd always dreamed of. Her excitement had run away with her, thought sometimes, on rainy days, she had dreams of running away all on her own, but all the others had gone against such plans. Her parents had probably seen it coming for a while now, and convincing them to let her taken the entrance exams had been easy, and once she'd gotten in, they'd been fine with her going. Her parents weren't cruel or forceful people, though they sometimes misunderstood what was best for her and what wasn't. And, of course, they didn't understand Mugi's fascination with normal people, and tried to get her to stop acting like one. That was the thing about parents: they loved you, but sometimes they just weren't able to understand your interests.

What would Mugi say to her parents if she came to them with her mind changed about attending Sakura High? Would they tell Mugi that she was doing the right thing, that this was her place, not among commoners, but in her large house, taking private lessons? Mugi would never get to experience a normal life then. All chance of her dreams becoming reality would be lost if she backed out now.

But there was still a nagging thought in her head, one of uncertainty. What if she stuck out at school like a sore thumb, and what I everyone suddenly found out about her high status? She just wanted to live a normal life, but wouldn't be able to if everyone started treating her the way she normally was.

She was brought back to the present by her driver asking, "Are you getting out here, or should we go back?"

Mugi shook her head. "I'm getting out. You don't have to wait for me." She opened the door and stepped out onto the pavement. Walking over to the aviary's entrance, the hem of Mugi's navy-and-white striped sweaterdress flapped in the wind. She had worn it over navy blue leggings and paired with ivory-colored flats. It was a good fashion choice, but maybe a little too dressy for the aviary. Not too long ago, Sumire had told her about this place, where she often went to just relax. It was small, nearby, and you could visit it without paying anything. Mugi loved animals, so she had told Sumire that she would go check it out. And somehow, she'd ended up here today, literally the day before she was due to start school at Sakura High. Mugi needed to take her thoughts off the indecision of her future at school and focus it somewhere else by looking around at the birds here.

She stepped into the entrance and looked around. The large enclosures for the birds were very tall, so as to allow them to fly around, and were arranged in a loop so you could go around and see them. Benches and trees were everywhere, so you really could relax. Mugi, who hadn't been able to do precisely that for a while, was hoping that the aviary would calm her down enough to just get her mind off things.

Starting at the end with the tropical birds, Mugi moved around the cages, admiring all the bird species she saw. Passing the larks, wrens, geese, and the loons, Mugi lost herself in the beauty of their wings and their movements. When she saw one of the larks take off into the air, it looked so graceful, better than any person on land. She wished she could have a pair of wings to lift her into the air and let her look back, so that she could tell what the right decision to make in her life was.

Eventually, she came to the smallest enclosure, where the wild finches resided. There were about ten in there, but it was a group of five that caught Mugi's eye. Two of them were flying around, chasing after one another in midair, and another two were getting comfortable with each other on the same branch. But there was the fifth finch, sitting next to them, and it curiously hopped over a little to Mugi. She felt like reaching out and touching it with a finger, but knew that she couldn't.

"You're a migratory bird, right?" she said softly. "That means that one day, you take off flying and keep on going until you reach somewhere new. You don't even stop until you reach your destination. I wish I could do that. It would be so much more helpful." She paused, and realized what she'd just said. "I'm kind of going through the same thing, except I'm not sure if I want to take off just yet. What if the journey along the way is scary? What if the destination is unfamiliar and they don't like me there? I want to go somewhere new, but I'm not sure how. Could you lend me your wings? I promise I'll give them back, but I just want to take all that strength and willingness to fly to help me get to high school. That's what I'm going to do, right?" Mugi's slight tendency to say what was on her mind had now proved useful. She realized that what she was going to do all along had been right in front of her. She hadn't needed to have second thoughts about it after all. Mugi pretended that the bird had given her an answer and gave a slight bow. "Thank you very much. I will use them well, I promise."

The finch hopped away a little bit, going back to perching next to the comfy-cozy finches just as the two that had been flying around landed on Mugi's finch's-well, not hers, but the one she'd had the little conversation with-other side. Together, the five of them looked just right together.

Mugi envisioned the wings she'd just been given. No, they wouldn't drag her down. She would use them to take off, far into the sky until her own destination was reached. She walked away, smiling, and climbed back into the car, which had been waiting for her. Her thoughts were still full of her newfound confidence-her wings. If birds had the strength to fly to somewhere new winter after winter, then she could have the strength to go to a new high school with new people. So tomorrow, she would put on that blue ribbon and that blazer, pick up that schoolbag, and go to Sakuragaoka Girls' High School for the first time. And, hey, maybe there would be something that would catch her eye, something that would help her fit in and become more of a normal girl. Whatever it was, Mugi would be sure to enjoy it to the fullest.


End file.
